New EU roaming rules come into force today

The scheme allows travellers in the EU and the EEA to call, text and surf abroad without extra charges.

The European Union has extended 'Roam-like-at-home' regulations for telecom providers until 2032, the European Commission announced on Thursday.

The scheme allows travellers in the EU and the EEA to call, text and surf abroad without extra charges.

"With our roaming regulation, we have all benefitted from Roam-like-at-home," EU's top official Margrethe Vestager said in an official statement.

"This is a very tangible benefit of our European Single Market. Prolonging these rules will keep inter-operator prices competitive, and allow consumers to continue enjoying free-of-charge roaming services for the next ten years."

New rules

The "roam like at home" initiative abolished roaming charges five years ago and put an end to carriers putting surcharges on travellers using their network.

However, a new part of "roam like at home" is the focus on the quality of service.

Mobile customers should be offered the same services when abroad that they have at home, provided the network supports them.

Essentially, if you have 5G in your home network, your roaming network should provide 5G to you while abroad.

Operators are required to inform customers of the quality of services they can expect and to receive an SMS with information if there is a potential for any increased charges for a service.

The new rules also aim to improve the information provided to roaming customers about emergency numbers.

If a customer cannot access the unified emergency number - 112 - then the operator will have to provide an alternative, free solution, like a messaging service or an app.

Operators will still get a way to limit the impact of roaming users by implementing a "fair use" policy - a vaguely-defined policy meant to prevent people from subscribing to a carrier in a foreign land for a cheaper fee and living in a different country. the entire time.

 - Reuters